India’s biggest public Wi-Fi network is live now

Nation’s biggest public Wi-Fi network and among the world’s largest, went live at 500 dedicated hotspots across the Mumbai city, said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

“Happy to dedicate Phase 1 of MumbaiWI-Fi. For this instance, 500 Hotspots go live across various locations in Mumbai,” tweeted Fadnavis.

He added that while MumbaiWi-Fi is India’s largest public Wi-Fi service and one of the biggest globally. Another 700 hotspots will be active by May 1- on the eve of Maharashtra Day.

“As committed, 1,200 Wi-Fi hotspots will be active by May 1, 2017. We will also monitor the progress on connectivity and speed,” included Fadnavis, after the first phase went active and became available to people.

During the trial period, January 2-8, around 23,000 users signed up in Mumbai and downloaded more than 2TB data, which Fadnavis defined as “a major aspect of digital empowerment in the state”.

The Wi-Fi – free with unlimited usage till January 31- is now available at the offices of Mumbai Police Commissioner, Vidhan Bhavan, KalaNagar in Bandra, Bombay High Court and other prominent public places in the city and suburbs.

The MITC (Maharashtra Information Technology Corporation) has collaborated with US-based companies like HP and Fortinet for the technical aspects.

The Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd is the bandwidth provider and L&T is the systems integrator.

Before this, Mumbai entered the public Wi-Fi period with hotspots at certain essential railway stations for commuters, while some private locations like malls, cinemas, restaurants, hotels offered limited free Wi-Fi access to their patrons.

The most recent by the ruling BJP- Shiv Sena combine comes as Mumbai and nine major civic bodies, plus 26 Zilla Parishads prepare to go for elections next month, the dates of which are due to be announced shortly.